Beat

Breaking news, human interest stories and daily life.

One Shot

14 Apr 2017. Tiksa Negeri

“I was covering a Good Friday prayer ceremony in the early morning hours and I saw this sculpture of an angel in Trinity Cathedral Orthodox Church and thought of composing the faithful with the shadow of sculpture. I waited a couple of hours until the sun rose to get the shadow. When the sun showed up I was lucky to shoot this picture. It makes me feel that the angel watches over the man as he prays.”

Profile

As a kid, I was taking pictures of people in a countryside with the cameras of missionaries my father used to work with. I also used to play around with my older brother's film camera, when he was not around.

I became a photographer because there is nothing that makes me happier than showing the world what is happening around me with my lenses.

My first assignment was covering the 2012 African Union Summit for Reuters in Addis Ababa. I was excited, photographing heads of states for the first time … but I was worried about not covering it well. Seeing my pictures published made me more excited for my next assignment. As a photographer, I learned you can lose the best picture in a second, so you should keep your eyes open at all times.

The assignment that left the biggest mark was during the landslide in the Koshe garbage dumb in 2017 in Addis Ababa. The victims were the poor people who live near the garbage. I was so sad seeing the bodies of children being dug out of the garbage and the mourning of a woman who lost three of her family members.

Daily life photography excites me the most … documenting all aspects of humanity for the next generation makes me happy.

Photojournalism is important becasue it goes far beyond taking pictures. It is telling the truth on the ground to audiences who count on you.

Photojournalism taught me to keep my eyes open at all times because big pictures can be missed within a matter of a second, though patience is the key.

Behind the Scenes

18 Jan 2015

Reuters Photographer Tiksa Negeri covering the Timket Festival, to commemorate the baptism of Jesus Christ in the river Jordan by John the Baptist. in Ethiopias Capital, 19 January 2015.